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Commuting sucks! #2

April 26, 2016

(Português no fim)

This was the worst of all so far... We took a van to go from El Nido to Sabang. We bought the direct 9.30 a.m. We arrived at the terminal to find out there was no direct van to Sabang and worse, the van was so full that there was no way we could fit. We offered to go on the next one. They told us there was one at 10 a.m. but we looked at the schedules and only saw an 11.00 a.m., they kept telling us not to worry and not to complaint cos there was a 10 a.m. one. 10.30 a.m. and we asked about the van, it was running late they said. 10.45 a.m. and we asked again, flat tire they answered. Off course there was no 10 a.m. van, all but bullshit and only a 11 a.m. like it said on the scheduled. We started to discuss with the guy and they retuned our tickets and didn't wanted to let us in on their van... OMG and now what?! Pedro is much more calm than I am and managed to convince the guy to let us in on the next and even managed to get an entire row (one seat each, us and the kids. Normally kids don't pay and they sit on our lap). The van was half empty so they stop millions of times along the way to collect and drop locals on their destinations, usually in the middle of nowhere. Kids fell asleep, ok, good. This is all but comfortable but we can manage. We had to change vans and the waiting was painful, Teresa had a huge meltdown that lasted almost the 2 hours, we were waiting in the middle of nowhere. Finally the van arrives and off we go. way to crowded and kids on our laps, the bags on top secured by some dubious ropes, so we spend all the time looking through the window making sure our bags didn't end up in the middle of the road. It was us and a bunch of locals, it felt really strange when they drop us off at the Sheridan beach and Spa resort, everyone looking at us, the locals and the the staff from the hotel. They are used to people to arrive in a much more fashionable way LOL. We left hour house in El Nido at 9.15 a.m. and arrived at our destination in Sabang (around 200km) at almost 6 p.m., what a long horrible day!